Dinos sweep Rabbits at home

By TERRY WILLISSun Advocate sports reporter

Whitney Oliver and Erika Potts dive for a ball in the match against Delta. Carbon struggled for almost every point, but in the end swept the Rabbits.

The box score shows another sweep in the Dinos run for the title, but that does not reflect the work that Carbon had to do to secure the win. Delta rolled in ready to knock Carbon off the top and the Dinos struggled to find their A game. Even so, Carbon downed Delta 25-19, 25-21, and 25-23 to remain unbeaten in region play.

Each game was a back and forth battle for points. Game one had the Dinos leading the Rabbits by a point or two most of the game, but they were never able to pull away until the final few serves. Each time Carbon made a run, Delta called a time out, regrouped, and made a run of their own to climb back in the game. But in the end the Dinos took the game.

Game two was almost a mirror image of the game, with the entire game a see-saw affair. Late in the game Whitney Oliver landed awkwardly and left with a knee injury. It is unknown if it will keep her out of the rest of the season. The Dino bench is deep enough to absorb the loss, but her absence will be felt by the team. Carbon was able to step up the game and close out the win to take game two.

Delta was not about to go out in three this time and came out in game three on fire. Carbon found itself constantly playing out of the hole for the entire game. It looked like the win streak might be in jeopardy. Coach Cristen Johnson called a few time outs on her own to regroup and fire up her squad. It seemed to do the trick and Carbon found a way to dig deep and put the Rabbits away to complete the sweep.

Coach Johnson admitted she had never felt so drained after a sweep. "I was a bit worried there for a little bit. We had to fight for every point and it was a struggle tonight." She added, "We couldn't seem to get our offense going so we were constantly playing defense and that is not a place you want to be." She had praise for her bench players that stepped in when called on, "I asked a lot of Cherelle Julian tonight and she did a great job. Tia Pappas is only a freshman and she came in and handled the ball well."

Megan Garvin had another outstanding effort with 14 kills, and 13 defensive digs for another all around effort. Julia Potts dished out 13 set assists. Britni Greenwood added eight kills along with Joy Malone's eight. Pappas had nine defensive digs and Julian had two blocks and five defensive digs.

The schedule does not ease up at all for the Dinos as they head up to play North Sanpete on Thursday. This will be the biggest test in awhile for the squad. "It is always tough to play the Hawks, but at their home court it is tougher. They always have a large crowd and are ready for action," Johnson reflected. Game time is 6:30 p.m. for those who want to head over to support the Dinos.